Best Substack Music Blogs for 2025: 13 Newsletters Worth Your Time
The best music newsletters on Substack for 2025, from Ted Gioia’s cultural criticism to First Floor’s electronic deep dives. Human-curated discovery that algorithms can’t replicate.
Here’s a confession: I spend more time reading about music than most streaming platforms think is healthy. But here’s what I’ve learned, the best discoveries don’t come from algorithms. They come from people who genuinely care.
In 2025, Substack has become the home of serious music writing. While traditional music media keeps shrinking and social media reduces everything to 15-second clips, something different is happening here. Writers, critics, and obsessive collectors are building newsletters that feel like the best music blogs from the 2000s, but with a direct line to your inbox.
These aren’t content farms churning out SEO-optimized lists. These are people who spent decades in record stores, radio stations, and clubs, now sharing what they know with whoever wants to listen.
Here are the 13 music newsletters worth following.
The 2025 Essential Substack Music Blogs List
1 - Ted Gioia | The Honest Broker
Ted Gioia might be the most important music writer on the internet right now. That’s not hyperbole, the man has written 12 books on music and culture, taught at Stanford, and somehow still publishes with the energy of someone half his age.
The Honest Broker covers music, books, and culture, but the music writing hits different. Gioia brings decades of jazz expertise and genuine cultural criticism to every piece. When he writes about the state of the music industry or digs into forgotten jazz masters, you’re getting insights from someone who’s actually done the homework.
What sets him apart: He’s genuinely independent. No ads, no sponsored content, no industry access journalism. Just honest takes backed by deep knowledge.
Best for: Anyone who wants cultural criticism with substance, not hot takes.
2 - First Floor - Shawn Reynaldo
If you care about electronic music, you probably already know First Floor. Shawn Reynaldo, formerly of RBMA and XLR8R, has been running this newsletter since 2019, and it’s become essential reading for anyone tracking the scene.
The Thursday digest delivers news, interesting links, and a pile of new track recommendations. But the real value is in the long-form pieces: in-depth artist interviews, industry analysis, and essays that tackle topics most publications won’t touch. Reynaldo doesn’t just cover the music, he covers the business, the problems, and the culture around it.
Here’s what I appreciate most: First Floor is a one-person operation. No team, no corporate backing, just one writer doing the work. In 2025 alone, he wrote 484 recommendations covering 529 tracks. That’s dedication.
Best for: Electronic music heads who want more than press releases.
3 - Flow State
Every weekday morning, Flow State recommends two hours of instrumental music perfect for working. No vocals to distract you, just human-curated selections delivered at 3am ET so it’s waiting when you start your day.
The format is elegant: one artist highlighted, context provided, links to all streaming platforms. That’s it. No algorithmic nonsense, just humans recommending music to other humans.
They’ve been doing this since 2018, before Substack even became the thing it is now. The consistency is remarkable. Whether you’re looking for ambient, contemporary classical, jazz, or electronic instrumentals, Flow State has something. They’ve even launched their own label, Flow State Records.
Best for: Anyone who needs focus music and is tired of the same lo-fi playlists.
4 - Bandcamp Notes
Bandcamp has always been the platform for independent music discovery. Now their editorial team publishes Bandcamp Notes on Substack, a newsletter that distills the best of what’s happening on the platform into digestible recommendations.
The strength here is coverage. Bandcamp Daily already runs some of the best genre-specific writing online (their jazz, experimental, and global music columns are exceptional), and Notes brings that curatorial eye to your inbox. When you’re facing 100 million songs on streaming platforms, having expert filters matters.
Best for: Independent music fans who want curated Bandcamp recommendations.
5 - Izvorišta - Emir Fulurija
Now we’re getting into the specialists. Izvorišta (pronounced iz-vor-ISH-ta) is a world music newsletter from Croatian music journalist Emir Fulurija. It’s exactly the kind of thing that makes Substack valuable, niche expertise that would never survive at a mainstream publication.
Fulurija covers everything from Balkan traditional music to Afrobeat to Mediterranean jazz fusion. His year-end lists are particularly valuable: comprehensive roundups of the best world music releases that you won’t find anywhere else in English.
The newsletter includes a podcast component, so you can actually hear the music being discussed. When someone spends this much time tracking global releases, you pay attention.
Best for: World music explorers looking for expert guidance beyond the obvious.
6 - Fluxblog - Matthew Perpetua
Fluxblog has been running since 2002, one of the original MP3 blogs that shaped how we discover music online. Matthew Perpetua has been at this longer than most, and the newsletter continues that tradition of eclectic, personal curation.
The dance music compilations are particularly strong, but Perpetua’s taste runs wide. Pop, indie, electronic, whatever catches his ear. The recommendations feel personal because they are, this isn’t content designed to optimize engagement, it’s one person sharing what they love.
Best for: Readers who appreciate eclectic taste and long-form music blogging.
→ Fluxblog
7 - No Tags
For the podcast-inclined, No Tags offers conversations about electronic music that go deeper than the standard interview format. It’s particularly good at covering the edges of dance music, the experimental stuff, the weird stuff, the things that don’t fit neatly into genre boxes.
They’ve even published a book. When a podcast commits to that level of depth, you know they’re serious.
Best for: Listeners who want in-depth discussions about adventurous electronic music.
→ No Tags
8 - The Music Week
The Music Week is exactly what the name promises, weekly album reviews, recommendations, deep dives, and discussions. It’s a place built around sharing and exploring music together, which sounds simple but is increasingly rare.
What I appreciate here is the range. One week you might get thoughts on Brazilian pop artist Marina Sena, the next a deep dive into ambient releases or alternative rock. The year-end lists are particularly comprehensive, 50 favorite albums organized alphabetically because ranking was too hard. That’s the kind of honest enthusiasm that makes music writing worth reading.
The newsletter has built a genuine community around it. Comments sections are active, readers share their own recommendations, and there’s a sense that everyone’s discovering music together rather than being talked at by an expert.
Best for: Readers who want diverse album coverage and community discussion.
9 - zensounds - Stephan Kunze
If ambient and experimental music is your thing, zensounds is essential. Stephan Kunze, freelance writer, book author, and commissioning editor at Everything Jazz, has built a newsletter with over 6,000 subscribers focused specifically on the outer edges of electronic and experimental sound.
Kunze brings a contemplative approach to music writing that matches his subject matter. The newsletter covers everything from classic ambient touchstones like Autechre to new UK jazz recordings to Berlin concert reviews. There’s also a radio show on dublab that extends the newsletter’s curation into audio form.
What sets zensounds apart is the depth of engagement. This isn’t quick listicle content, it’s thoughtful writing about music that rewards careful listening. Kunze’s background studying Zen Buddhist teachings informs the meditative quality of both his selections and his prose.
Best for: Ambient and experimental music enthusiasts who want thoughtful curation.
10 - The Slow Music Movement
“Disorderly digging in an algorithmic world.” That tagline captures The Slow Music Movement perfectly. This newsletter focuses on lesser-known, independent, and alternative artists, the lazy and hazy vibes that streaming algorithms consistently miss.
The scope is delicious: ambient, downtempo, Balearic, freaky folk, drones and tones, stoned soundtracks. It’s the kind of curation that takes decades of listening to develop. The newsletter also feeds a podcast and extensive playlists across platforms.
What I respect most: the commitment to keeping recommendations free despite the work involved. As the writer puts it, hiding lesser-known artists who need the most support behind a paywall goes against everything the project stands for. In an age of subscription fatigue, that philosophy matters.
Best for: Downtempo, ambient, and Balearic enthusiasts seeking deep independent curation.
11 - The Wax Museum - Jared Smith
If vinyl culture matters to you, The Wax Museum bridges the gap between physical record collecting and digital discovery. Jared Smith describes it as “crate digging through culture”, connecting analog record culture with modern streaming recommendations.
The newsletter works across formats and eras, which is increasingly rare. Most music writing picks a lane; The Wax Museum moves freely between them.
Best for: Vinyl collectors and anyone who appreciates music across formats.
12 - Jeff Tweedy’s Newsletter
Yes, that Jeff Tweedy, the Wilco frontman. His newsletter includes original interviews, oral histories, themed mixtapes, and various transmissions from someone who’s been making important music for decades.
The value here is perspective. Getting recommendations from working musicians reveals influences and inspirations that algorithms would never surface. When someone with Tweedy’s track record shares what they’re listening to, you pay attention.
Best for: Fans who want insight into a working musician’s listening habits and creative process.
13 - Howard Salmon
Howard Salmon is a Substack devoted to deep listening, long-form reflections on albums, artists, and the forgotten corners of music that still shape how we hear. Launched recently but already building a dedicated readership.
The approach here is contemplative. This isn’t quick-hit recommendations or news roundups. It’s the kind of writing that sits with an album, thinks about why it matters, and invites you to listen more carefully. As one reader put it, the newsletter “elevates the vinyl experience to a whole new level, refreshing, intimate, and profoundly honest.”
If you miss the days when music writing meant actually engaging with records rather than chasing algorithms, this is your newsletter.
Best for: Readers who want thoughtful, long-form writing about albums and deep listening.
Why Substack for Music in 2025?
The pattern here is clear: independent voices doing deep work on topics they actually care about.
Traditional music media has been hollowed out. Full-time music critics are almost extinct. Publications increasingly depend on advertorial content and access journalism that pulls punches. And social media reduces everything to hot takes and short clips.
Substack offers something different. Writers can go deep without worrying about SEO gaming. They can cover niche topics without justifying them to an editor. They can be honest about the industry because they’re not dependent on it for access.
The business model helps too. When readers directly support writers, the incentives align. You’re not the product being sold to advertisers, you’re the audience the writer is actually trying to serve.
The Sound Vault Recommendation
We obviously belong in this conversation too. The Sound Vault focuses on human-curated music discovery, deep dives into songs, albums, and artists that streaming algorithms overlook. From Turkish psychedelic rock to Bristol trip-hop to Mediterranean jazz fusion, we cover music that deserves attention regardless of its commercial profile.
What we’re trying to do is what these other newsletters do: bring genuine expertise and personal taste to music discovery. No algorithmic shortcuts, no sponsored content, just songs we love and the stories behind them.
Start Exploring
The algorithm isn’t going to save you. It’s designed to keep you engaged, not to help you discover music that matters.
But there are people out there doing the work, listening to thousands of releases, tracking scenes, interviewing artists, and sharing what they find. They’re on Substack, and in 2025, they’re worth your attention more than ever.
Pick a newsletter. Subscribe. Let someone who actually cares about music guide your next discovery.
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
What music newsletters have changed how you discover music? Share your recommendations in the comments.
Highly recommend the Wax Museum. Jared never misses!
Much appreciated